Why the judges deemed the companies worthy finalists for 2008
Supermarket category
Marks & Spencer: Winner,
for its clear and evidence-based animal welfare audit, and its commitment to ensuring the welfare credentials of its processed pork products such as Parma ham
Asda: Innovation Award
for its work with farmers to deliver a practical and sustainable scheme to significantly improve the welfare of dairy cows.
Waitrose:
Finalist for its commitment across its animal-derived product range, its sustainable fish range and emphasis on animal welfare in its R&D programme. Waitrose was last year's winner of the supermarket category.
Special award:
The Co-operative: Lifetime Achievement Award
for its ethical ethos in relation to animal welfare and specifically its recent higher welfare turkey initiative.
Independent Food Retailers
Pepperfield Farm, Dalton-on-Tees: Winner
for its humane rearing and slaughter policies, and its continuing drive to educate customers from farm to fork.
Swan Inn Farm Shop, Inkpen near Hungerford:
for its humane rearing and slaughter policies, and its continuing drive to educate customers from farm to fork.
West Frogwell Farm, Callington, Cornwall:
Finalist for its strict policies on pig rearing and transportation, and free range hens and ducks.
Restaurant chain category
McDonald's: Winner, Restaurant Chain Award
for its commitment to use free range whole eggs in restaurants across Europe, a pledge that all egg ingredients in products in UK restaurants were free range by September of this year, and the implementation of a poultry round table to determine a long term strategic approach to the humane killing of chickens.
Leon (London):
Finalist for placing animal welfare at the heart of its ethos and marketing strategy, through serving well sourced food and using higher welfare meat, eggs and dairy produce, and Freedom Food labelled farmed salmon.
Loch Fyne Restaurants:
Finalist for extending its higher welfare and sustainability approach from fish through to its use of eggs and dairy produce.
Independent Restaurant category:
The Norway Inn, Truro, Cornwall: Winner, Independent Restaurant
for its commitment to higher welfare and strong traceability policy - the farmers who supply the animal produce are highlighted on the menu.
Restaurant Alimentum, Cambridge: Winner, Innovation Award
for its use of free range animal bones in all stock, as well as use of organic meat that has been reared to higher welfare standards.
Harbour Lights Fish & Chip Restaurant, Falmouth, Cornwall:
Finalist for its commitment to selling fish from sustainable stocks, and its work in encouraging others in the industry to look at their own ethical policies.
Percy's Country Hotel & Restaurant, Virginstow, Devon:
Finalist for promoting animal welfare on its website, initiating inspections of suppliers' farms, stopping using fish it was concerned had been caught when gravid, and the use of eggs from its own humanely reared hens.
The Swan Inn, Inkpen, Hungerford, Berkshire:
Finalist for its impressive welfare credentials - beef is supplied by its own organic farm, and all cattle are reared and killed humanely.
